Randex Communications Music and Entertainment Public Relations Company

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LEEWAYï¿½S HOME GROWN MUSIC NETWORK: THE FUTURE IS NOW

ï¿½A great grassroots network ready to embrace its members with open arms
record biz we know today.ï¿½ - Providence Phoenix

MEBANE, NC -- Forget ï¿½the future of rock ï¿½nï¿½ rollï¿½: Meet the future of the rock ï¿½nï¿½ roll industry: LEEWAYï¿½S HOME GROWN MUSIC NETWORK.

Based in a beautifully serene region of North Carolina, the 8-year-old HGMN is reinventing the way new music is marketed by combining the key elements of the business while bypassing established avenues of distribution and promotion.

HGMN provides member artists with an array of services from networking and distribution to publicity and promotions.

HGMN was founded in 1995 by Lee Crumpton, a former disc jockey who could see the handwriting on the wall: Consolidation of the recording industry and the mantra of ï¿½profits uber allesï¿½ was a one-way ticket to the extinction of musical creativity and freedom.

ï¿½I was in radio for a long time,ï¿½ says Crumpton, ï¿½and I just got so burned out on the same old crap. I knew there was all this great music out there that wasn't getting a fair chance. So that's what drove me to start the Network.ï¿½

Since its inception, Crumpton has grown the Network exponentially. The fall of 2002 finds it taking its biggest steps to date by adding more capital behind its new record label and expanding its retail distribution system to emphasize major regional record store chains, including New England's Newbury Comics and Compact Disc World in New Jersey.

At the center of Crumpton's revolutionary concept is the Network itself, which boasts a roster of independent bands who, for a nominal fee, are provided access to promotional and publicity services, as well as the company's worldwide database and e-mail lists.

Members are also showcased on the HGMN Web site (www.HomeGrownMusic.net), which includes radio/streaming audio, band info, tape trading, e-commerce and dozens of music links. A collaboration with JamBase.com provides client tour information, and an alliance with LiveDiscs.com offers affordable live CD and DVD recording opportunities.

Among the dozens of acts who have availed themselves of HGMN are Zen Tricksters, Seth Yacovone Band, The Om Trio, Psychedelic Breakfast and Smokin' Grass. Membership is granted only to those acts who meet the Network's artistic and personal criteria. However, the performers' affiliation with HGMN may be non-exclusive.

Under the HGMN umbrella are two distinct arms of the operation: Home Grown Distribution and Harmonized Records.

Home Grown Distribution is charged with getting the music of Network clients to the public via wholesale and retail sales. On the wholesale level, Home Grown Distribution has developed its own organization of independent music stores and chains that it services. However, the public can also buy music direct via the HGMN catalog or website.

Harmonized Records, the Network's own new label, is yet another manifestation of Crumpton's vision for his company.

ï¿½Our goal with the label -- and distribution -- is to ensure we have a more long-term relationship with the artist,ï¿½ he explains. ï¿½With the previous model, we'd help bands grow to the next level, and they'd move on to a label. We'd get cut out of the picture. It was kind of a negative payoff. Doing good work actually hurt us.ï¿½

Harmonized was introduced in the spring of 2002 with two releases, Expression Sessions by Netwerk Electric and Just Like Old Country by Ten Ton Chicken. They are being followed this fall with The Motet -- Live and the eponymous CD by The Codetalkers with Col. Bruce Hampton. In early 2003, Harmonized is looking forward to new releases by Perpetual Groove and Garaj Mahal.

For Crumpton, the bottom line is not the triumph of commerce over art, but the blending of the two halves to create a much larger whole, and to keep alive the spirit of community that was, decades ago, an integral part of the music universe.: ï¿½We're there to keep these bands going,ï¿½ he says. ï¿½And to give the fans easy access to the music they seek.ï¿½

links
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Click here for information and products from HGMN members.
Click here for links to other bands that we distribute.